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MICHIGAN MUSIC |
November,
2002 "IN THE BEGINNING..."
ISSUE |
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The
State Of Michigan Music |
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BY
DICK WAGNER &
BOB DENNIS
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Editor's Introduction
In the peaceful mid-Michigan area a seasoned rock
producer/songwriter/engineer does his thing to stay on top of a
drastically changing industry. Although it can be frustrating to
work with the current music industry, Dick Wagner is probably doing
exactly what is necessary to achieve big-time success today.
Visiting his website (www.wagnermusic.com)
you will notice that he provides a online store for much of the product
produced at his studio. Dick likes quality productions and
artist performance, and when the clients measure up to his standards, he
likes to do what he can to help make the record successful. In
addition, Dick has a few lucky artists signed to his label get the
product regionally released and properly promoted if the right national
deal can't be obtained right away. |
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In his November, 2002 posting Dick talks about the latest Robert
Wagner rock project: |
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"Considering
the state of the music business today, the record business, the
prospects are 50/50. You never know. With the record business down 30%,
all the piracy on the internet—therefore loss of CD sales, it’s tougher
to get a new artist signed and get promotion and all that. So we’re
working all the angles that we can and hoping for the best of course
because it’s a great record.” |
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Bob's Comment: |
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"In Southeastern Michigan, we have seen a
major chain music retailer, Harmony House, go out of business - that's
over 30 stores that vanished within 2 years. Major record
companies are in shock and don't really know how to sell records in the
volume that they are used to.
"The key thing missing in
the industry is a company spending money into promoting and marketing
new acts. Some companies are signing new acts and trying to market
several of them together. This effectively means that much less
money is spent on each new project and the poor results are
predictable." |
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Dick comments on the state of the music business and where Wagner Music Group fits in:
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“We’re trying to get into the gospel
market, the autopsy market, the rock ‘n’ roll market, and country. We’re
doing a little bit of everything! Of course I love all kinds of music as
long as it’s good. So I love working with all of it. The hardest part of
it is always trying to make the music connection with the business
connection in the mainstream music business. It’s very tough right now
out there.
“The market is tough, record labels are
suffering, artists—everybody is suffering. After 9-11 everything died.
And it’s continued on as far as the music business goes. There hasn’t
been a real boost. There’s been a lot of the same stuff out there over
and over and over. All you can do is try to do things that are as new
and original as you can and hope that the market is turning in your
direction. Or maybe that you lead the market, because trying to just fit
in, you’re always six months/nine months behind, no matter what you do.
My philosophy is: Do the music that you do. Be true to yourself and what
you love. At that point you have to wait for the market to come around
to you or you have to find a way to push your way in and change things.
That’s what we’re trying to do--the most up-to-date, good sounding
musical stuff that we can, all the way around here. We just hope that
the world is ready for it all.”
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Bob's Comment: |
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"One of the reasons the music industry is suffering
is that record companies keep trying to push a lot of "the same old
stuff." The public wants "new stuff," maybe even the stuff that
you're doing right now. Finding
"a way to push your way in and change things"
is probably best accomplished by local and regionally "test marketing"
your own product yourself or though a label like Dick's." |
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Dick's views on the return of rock ‘n’
roll--spearheaded by the likes of The Vines, The White Stripes, The
Strokes, and The Hives: |
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“It interests me to listen to
what young groups are doing today and how it compares to like when we
were young and playing. There’s so much similarity in it. In attitude
and the way it’s approached and yet of course this is the 21st
century so it’s different, but it’s still got the same kind of basic
roots. Rock ‘n’ roll hasn’t died and that’s good to hear. It’s always
good to hear young groups really trying to do edgy things. I enjoy that
very much. I’d like to see more of it in this area.”
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Bob's Comment: |
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"As I said, "new stuff."
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Dick's views on
modern radio: |
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“You know--I listen to a lot
of NPR, because they introduce a lot of this (modern rock) stuff. I’ve
also been listening to a lot of
Americana
stuff on there and I really like NPR because of that. They play such a
wide variety of music. You listen to commercial radio today (and) it’s
very difficult to get a broad spectrum of what’s going on. There’s a lot
of good music out there. I am an NPR fan because of that. You get folk
music,
Americana
music, a lot of jazz and blues, you get classical music, you get some
pop music. They have that program ‘Women In Music’ where’s it’s all girl
singer/songwriters. You get to hear a lot of that. To me there’s more
(well) rounded music on NPR than anywhere else.
“Then of course it makes sense because
all of the other stations are formatted to fit a certain niche. It’s
unfortunate because it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room to break out
new artists—especially local artists, because everything is
pre-programmed and pre-destined from somewhere afar, from some higher
authority. I don’t know who they are...the consulting firms and the
programmers. It makes it difficult if you’re trying to have a local
business, get records out, and get air play for them. Occasionally you
can break through and get some things played, but…it’s pretty hard these
days. So I scan the dial—I listen to country stations, I listen to
Z-Rock, I listen to heavy rock stuff, I scan through it all and listen
to all of it--the hip-hop, R&B. I end up putting it on NPR, because I
know when it comes time for music, it’s going to be good. Celtic,
Americana
, Folk, or something from a jazz festival somewhere. Interesting stuff
and things you don’t often hear.
“So I don’t think that much of radio
today. I appreciate the fact that it’s out there. I just wish it was not
so strictly programmed, because when I was young it wasn’t that way at
all. When you listened to radio stations you could hear a variety of
different things and you could pick up on new things. It was informative
in that sense and I don’t feel that it is anymore. Look at the charts
today—the #1 album for the last three or four weeks has been Elvis. I
think that is just totally cool. The Rolling Stones (are) #2 or 3. I
mean—what’s going on here? All the old and dead guys…it’s great!" |
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Bob's Comment: |
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“Today's
radio is probably in worse shape than the record companies. Talk
and news beat out music formats regularly in listener numbers. It
used to be that radio could "jam" music onto the public through repeated
airplay - something that doesn't work very well today. Radio is
driven by advertising dollars, and as record companies don't spend as
much, radio has to change - and those changes are happening even if it
is occurring slowly. We are beginning to see more
"Specialized" shows that feature more variety - something that will
benefit the newer artists in the industry." |
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